Administration

Board of Directors

Roberto Lopez, President
Mary F. Sosa, Vice President
Juanita Ortiz, Secretary/Parliamentarian
Esperanza Vera, Treasurer/Sergeant at Arms

Alma Ruiz, Member
Denjuami Barker, Member
Gilberto Hinojosa, Member
Juan Moreno, Jr., Member

Head Start/Early Head Start Policy Council

Melissa N. Tamayo, President
Lizeth Ballesteros, Vice President
Gwendolyn Portocarrero, Secretary/Treasurer

Administrative Directors

David Kowalski, Executive Director
david.kowalski@ninosinc.org
Erie Tejada, Deputy Director
erie.tejada@ninosinc.org

Children Services

Elva Vidales, Children Services Director – elva.vidales@ninosinc.org
Servanda Solis, Education Coordinator – servanda.solis@ninosinc.org
Elia Gracia, Education Coordinator – elia.gracia@ninosinc.org
Manuel Martinez, Education Coordinator – manuel.martinez@ninosinc.org
Karen Bethel, Education Coordinator – karen.bethel01@ninosinc.org

Carmen Reyes, Disabilities Coordinator – carmen.reyes@ninosinc.org
Toni Sanchez, TTA Specialist – toni.sanchez@ninosinc.org

Children Services is responsible for the program’s center-based practices and system to promote school readiness of participating children, birth to five, to include dual language learners and children with disabilities. The child development system comprises establishing, tracking, using, and reporting school readiness goals.

School readiness goals are in place that support development in the five essential domains described in the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework, and align to both the Texas Early Learning and Prekindergarten guidelines.

The Learning Accomplishment Profile (LAP) system is used to determine the children’s developmental progress three times a year. The assessment data is collected using the Red-e-Learner web-based software to analyze, aggregate school readiness data, and track individual child progress. In addition, generated reports highlight the progress of the program’s comprehensive school readiness goals.

The Curriculum Management System (CMS) is developmentally appropriate and linguistically appropriate to address the large Hispanic population of this service area who are dual language learners. The CMS integrates an array of research-based resources to implement instructional practices and create classroom settings to provide opportunities for children to interact and demonstrate their abilities, skills, and knowledge in any language. The CMS intentionally focuses on children’s progress in the five domains and includes strategies for individualizing for each child. The program uses data from teacher observations, LAP child assessment reports, as well as insight from parents and provisions for related services, to determine how best to respond to each child’s individual characteristics, strengths, and needs.

Through ongoing monitoring, the Children Services Content staff is able to ensure that practices and systems for continuous improvement are in place to provide effective services necessary to promote the school readiness of all children. Information regarding the program’s progress in achieving school readiness goals is shared with parents and community partners through conferences, home visits, school readiness meetings, and program publications.

NINOS, Inc. Head Start continues to be a comprehensive child development program, and has actively entered the “era” of increased accountability and challenges of improving the quality of educational experiences. Through a shared vision of “Raising Engagement and Enhancing Lifelong Learning for Young Children,” the program engages school, family, and community partnerships to support young children’s first steps by enhancing their social and school readiness competence. The vision embraces the NINOS’ mission of Creating a Brighter Future for our Children and “La Familia.”

Human Resources

Nicholas Guajardo, Acting Director of Human Resources – nicholas.guajardo@ninosinc.org

Melissa Maravillas, Human Resouces Officer – melisa.maravillas@ninosinc.org

The main objectives of the NINOS, Inc. Head Start/Early Head Start Human Resources Department is to direct employment activities assuring that properly qualified employees are recruited and hired in order to better serve our children. The HR Department is designed to employ personnel on the basis of their qualifications and with the assurance of equal opportunity and treatment regardless of race, religion, color, sex, age or national origin.

Employee Forms
Physical-TB Forms

Follow the link below for the latest job postings and employment application and instructions.
Employment Opportunities

Finance Department

Tracy Torres, Director of Finance – tracy.torres@ninosinc.org
Veronica Garzoria, Accountant – veronica.garzoria@ninosinc.org

The main duties of the Finance Department are fiscal reporting, in-kind reports, purchasing, accounts payable, and payroll processing. Reports are provided to the Head Start/Early Head Start Board of Directors and Policy Council. These reports provide a snapshot look at how current expenditures compare to budgeted amounts. In-kind donation reports provide information on the status of contributions in the form of rent waivers, donated labor, and monetary items for all centers. Purchasing duties include assuring compliance with purchasing policies regarding obtaining quotes, bid management and quality assurances of items obtained. Purchasing reviews all purchase orders. Payments to utilities, telephone, rents, fuel, health services, mileage reimbursements, travel allowances, and payments under bulk food purchases do not require a purchase order. Accounts Payable-Pays vendors after the products or services have been reviewed and accepted by management. All of the programs and grants awarded to NINOS, Inc. that contain provisions for personnel are paid on a bi-weekly schedule. Checks and direct deposit vouchers are processed every payroll cycle. All federal, state and local wage and earnings reports are also processed and submitted as needed. The Finance Department adheres to the accounting manual approved by the Board of Directors and follows federal regulations regarding non-profit status.

Information Technology

Oscar Silva, MIS Technician – oscar.silva@ninosinc.org
Israel Lerma, MIS Technician – israel.lerma01@ninosinc.org
Frederick Von, MIS Technician – frederick.von@ninosinc.org

The main duties of the IT/Data Compliance Department are to administer and manage the local area network (LAN) and the wide area network (WAN)The department coordinates with all departments and centers on all information systems needs. It provides technical support to all personnel.

Children’s Health and Safety

Marco Herrera, Director of Children’s Health and Safety – marco.herrera@ninosinc.org
Annette Pena, Nutrition Coordinator – annette.pena@ninosinc.org

Family Services

Lora Lee Marquez, Director of Family Services – lora.marquez@ninosinc.org
Esmeralda Rodriguez, Family Services Coordinator – esmeralda.rodriguez@ninosinc.org
Laura Garcia, Family Services Coordinator – laura.garcia@ninosinc.org
Tania Rivera, Family Services Coordinator – tania.rivera@ninosinc.org

The key focus of the Family Services Department is Parental Involvement. Parents take active roles as decision-makers in the program through participation in the Head Start/Early Head Start Policy Council, Parent Committees at the center level and other means of advocacy. Family Services encourages parents to participate in a plethora of training such as; Governance for Parent/Policy Council/Board, Training Institute NHSA Annual Parent Training Conference, NHSA Advocacy efforts. All Parents are encouraged to volunteer and also promotes higher education by sponsoring 17 Scholarships to former Head Start students and current and former Head Start parents through financial support from parents, staff and the community. The department enhances knowledge within our community by offering GED classes, English As a Second Language (ESL), and Project STAR (Starting Together As Readers). We assist parents in completing Income Tax Returns, 1040 EZ, 1040A and E-Filing and we collaborate with community agencies to provide services to our families. We continue to work with the youth to promote morals, deter drug use and end teen pregnancy through the Parent/Youth Mini-Conference. The department also supports the Fatherhood/Marriage Enrichment Initiative through the local training and Expanded Nutrition Training.